


Lonely Angel

by tfw_cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2016-05-11
Packaged: 2018-06-07 18:56:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6820150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfw_cas/pseuds/tfw_cas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel feels unneeded by the Winchesters. Can they convince him that he has a place at the bunker with them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lonely Angel

**Author's Note:**

> I have always wondered what Cas could be getting up to when he's not at the bunker with Sam and Dean, so I had this idea. I hope you enjoy it.

The boys arrived at the bunker after the hunt – Sam, Dean and Cas. It had been a routine hunt, they had only had to take care of two vamps and it had been swift and they hadn’t encountered any problems. It had been a long drive back though, and Sam and Dean were quite tired. 

In the kitchen Dean opened two beers, passed one to Sam and lifted his legs onto the table. He raised his bottle in salute, then took a long swig.

‘Good job today fellas’ he said. ‘If I didn’t need a few hours sleep I’d be at the nearest bar. They’ve got a new waitress that I’d like to get to know better’.

He winked at Sam, who shook his head in mock outrage.

Cas took this as his cue to leave. He had gotten much better at reading signals, and he didn’t want to outstay his welcome.

‘I will be leaving now Dean’, he said, touching Dean lightly on his left shoulder.

‘Oh, ok buddy’ Dean replied. He didn’t really want Cas to go, but he was too tired to argue. What did he have to do that was so important anyway? Cas stuff, he supposed. Still, at least Cas told him that he was going to leave these days, instead of just disappearing. Although, he never did actually say the word goodbye. Never.

To be honest Cas didn’t understand why Dean had asked him to go on this hunt with them. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and the Winchesters could have dealt with it easily on their own. 

As he walked away, Sam turned to Dean and said ‘we should ask Cas to stay. Where’s he always going off to in such a hurry?’

Dean was glad that Sam had said that and not him; it meant that he could act nonchalantly when asking Cas to come back. He nodded and wearily took his legs down off the table. 

‘We’ll get some pizza and tell that idiot we’ve got some new episodes of Orange is the New Black’.

Sam smiled as Dean went to bring Cas back. He enjoyed Cas’s company – his naivety was endearing, and he knew that Dean liked having him around. More than either of them were willing to admit.

Dean caught up with Cas in the main entrance room. He was just about to call out to stop him leaving when he realised that Cas was engrossed in something. He was leaning over the map table with a small object in his hand. Was he taking photos of the table? It wasn’t so much what he was doing that intrigued Dean, though, it was the shifty way he was doing it; he was clearly making sure he wasn’t seen doing… whatever. Instead of calling out, he waited until Cas turned to the stairs to leave and started to follow him. Dean wanted to know what the hell Cas had been doing, and he was damn well going to find out.

Cas drove away in his car, and Dean followed him in the impala for about twenty minutes, until Cas pulled into the parking lot of a motel. He watched Cas go into room number 27, then when it became obvious that Cas would be staying put for the night Dean drove back to the bunker (stopping off on the way to get pizza and more beer).

As he arrived back Sam looked disappointed and said ‘hey man, where’s Cas?’

‘I didn’t catch him before he left’ answered Dean, distractedly.

Sam realised that there was probably more to this than Dean was saying, but decided to leave it for now.

The following day Dean went back to the motel, waited until he saw Cas leave, then broke into room 27. The bed hadn’t been slept in, but then it wouldn’t have been would it? There were no spare clothes, obviously. It was impossible to tell how long Cas had been staying in this room – it could have been a day or a year – there were no personal items at all. The only thing that wouldn’t normally be there was a few photos scattered on the table. Dean had a look at them, but he just couldn’t work out what they were of. Well, it looked like they were random shots from the map table in the bunker, but that made no sense. Dean left the room as he had found it and went back home. 

‘Hey, check this out’ called Sam ‘I think I’ve found a case. A young couple went missing last week, and now they’ve turned up dead. Without their hearts’.

‘That sounds like us’ said Dean. ‘I’ll call Cas. Where is it?’

‘Hunter, Kansas. About 50 miles from here’.

‘Hunter’ laughed Dean, as he called Cas on his phone. Sam chuckled to himself – they didn’t need to bother Cas with this, but it made Dean happy to have him around. Was it his imagination, or was Dean always a little bit happier when he had an excuse to call Cas?

Sam and Dean met up with Cas, and the three of them went off to investigate. After asking around, and checking out the scene the case was pretty straightforward, and they were back at the bunker the following afternoon. 

‘Hey Cas, buddy, there’s some new episodes of Orange is the New Black on Netflix. How about it?’

‘Yes, I would like that’ said Cas, pulling up a chair. 

Sam joined them, and the three of them watched two episodes. Dean kept staring at Cas to see if he did anything out of the ordinary, but he didn’t notice anything. As far as Sam was concerned Dean wasn’t doing anything different – staring was kind of Dean and Cas’ thing. 

It had been a good day, and they were all in good humour, so Dean thought he might subtly try to find out what Cas was up to in his motel room.

‘Hey Cas, where are you staying these days?’ He tried to make it sound like this was just general conversation, and nothing more.

Cas looked startled. This was obviously a question he didn’t want to answer. ‘Nowhere really. I just find a motel and stay there for a night then move on’.

Liar, thought Dean. But then, he wasn’t exactly a role model when it came to telling the truth.

‘Well why don’t you just stay here with us’ said Dean.

Unfortunately, Dean’s attempt at nonchalance only convinced Cas that Dean didn’t really mean it, and that he should be leaving. 

Trying to sound like he didn’t care, Cas said ‘thank you Dean, but I should go now’.

As he left Dean followed behind; Sam stayed where he was, and slowly shook his head. What am I going to do with those two, he thought.

Dean hung back and watched as Cas took more photos. What the hell, Cas? He thought. He considered telling Sam what he had seen, but decided to keep it to himself for now.

Over the next few weeks Dean watched Cas carefully every time he saw him, trying to find evidence of strange behaviour. He saw Cas take more photos of the table, and also the walls in the room. He also occasionally broke into Cas’s motel room – yes, he was still staying at the same motel – to see if he could understand. Every time he went into the room there were more photos scattered about on the table, and some pinned to the walls. 

It took until about the tenth visit before Dean suddenly realised just what Cas was doing – although he couldn’t work out why – and it made him both sad and annoyed. ‘Damnit Cas’ he muttered under his breath. ‘You are one strange angel’.

It's time for us to talk, thought Dean, so he waited for Cas to return. He took the opportunity to take a few drinks from the mini-bar. Dean knew that would confuse the motel staff, as Cas wouldn’t have eaten or drunk anything from it before.

Dean waited for so long that he fell asleep in the chair, and when he awoke he found Cas standing in front of him, staring intently, with a more confused look than usual on his face. 

Dean jumped up; ‘Cas, I’ve told you before about this. It’s creepy’.

‘Hello Dean’, said Cas. ‘What are you doing in my room? How did you get in here? How did you know that I am staying here?’

‘I followed you and I broke in’.

‘Why, Dean?’ Cas was wondering – hoping – that Dean’s appearance in his room was for a very different reason than what he was actually there for.

‘Cas, why have you got photos of the bunker all over the place? Are you trying to make your own bunker?’

Cas looked down at the floor and very quietly said ‘yes’.  
‘Why? What the hell are you doing that for?’ As Dean asked the question the answer became obvious.

‘Because it made this place feel more like home. I was lonely’.

There were little butterflies in Dean’s stomach as he said ‘dammit Cas, why didn’t you say something?’

‘I didn’t know how to tell you. I thought you might send me away again’.

Dean was utterly heartbroken by this admission. He had sent Cas away before, but only because Gadreel had tricked him into believing that Sam would be in danger if Cas stayed. 

He walked over to Cas and gave him what he hoped was a very manly hug. ‘Cas, we’re family. You’re coming back home with me, and you’re staying. We’ve got lots of rooms’.

Cas was dancing inside at this, although he had hoped that he might share Dean’s room with him. Maybe someday. God, he had been so lonely but he had always thought that he was expendable, even to Sam and Dean.

As Cas checked out at the motel office, Dean looked over his shoulder, and saw that he had been living there for over a year. Oh god, that made him so sad. Poor Cas – Dean would have to make it up to him somehow. 

It was when Dean saw the name that Cas had given that really got him though – Castiel Winchester, the family name. He fought back the tears and the urge to grab Cas and hold him tight.

When they got back to the bunker Dean told Sam that Cas was coming to live with them, that he’d been quite lonely, but he hadn’t wanted to say. He didn’t tell Sam about the photos – that would just be between him and Cas.

Sam hugged Cas and said ‘You’re family, you can always stay here with us’.

He realised that this would mean a lot more staring and unresolved sexual tension in the bunker, but he could live with that. 

Team free will together again, at home. The bunker.


End file.
